1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a logical partitioned computer system, and more particularly to a logical partitioned computer system in which a plurality of logical partitions are provided by a control program called a hypervisor so as to operate an operating system (guest OS) in the respective logical partitions.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a technique for operating a plurality of operating systems (guest OS's) in one physical computer, a logical partitioned computer system is known for effecting control by preparing logical partitions. The logical partitioned computer system is configured by a control program called a hypervisor for controlling the logical partitions. The hypervisor is a control program which constitutes a nucleus for controlling the logical partitions, and effects control of the assignment of resources (computer resources) including an instruction processor, a main storage device, and an input/output (I/O) channel, and the like. The hypervisor is a control program for logically partitioning the physical resources and constituting walls among the logical partitions, and the main role of the hypervisor is to set “walls” for the hardware.
In the logical partitioned computer system, the amount of resources necessary at the time of operation of the guest OS's is estimated, the configurations of the logical partitions are defined in accordance with the estimation, and the resources are assigned in accordance with the defined configurations when the logical partitions are generated.
In a case where the resources required for the respective logical partitions are different between the daytime and nighttime, an implementation is carried out in which the assignment of the resources among the logical partitions is systematically changed in accordance with an operator's operation schedule or an automatic operation schedule.
As for a method of this implementation, a detailed description is given in JP-A-6-110715. Although JP-A-6-110715 is premised on a virtual computer system, the virtual computer system has a function similar to that of logical partitioning, and the method of partitioning resources is also generally similar.
In addition, a charging system based on a volume sensitive rate has appeared as a recent charging system of computers. This is a system in which numerous resources are mounted in advance, and the charge of renting a computer is determined depending on the amount of resources used. Since the resources are necessary in proportion to the incurred load, one must pay a charge for the amount by which the computer was used.